Our official mascot of 2020: Washes his hands incessantly. Always wears a mask. (With the letters in RACCOON, you can spell CORONA)We learned from the locals that a raccoon had been a featured house guest at Camp as far back as the 1930s during the days of The Wandawega Hotel. One particularly social furball would come to the door of the restaurant on a regular basis. If he wasn’t granted immediate access, hed scratch until a patron would come to the door. Then hed make the rounds, table by table – staring down diners until they handed over bits of whatever they had on their plates..Around the same time, Calvin Coolidge and his wife Grace had a pet raccoon living with them in the whitehouse they named Rebecca, so it was considered a strange but chic pet at the time. .Wed heard this legend for years and so adopted George the RACCOON as our mascot. He has since become a recurring character in our brand partnerships with @crateandkids on bedding, toys & pillows. In our @penguinrandomhouse childrens book, And with @Gant on our Wandawega kids line in shirts, tees and oxfords. Most recently for the new projects like magnets, flasks and decals that will be launching in our campstore soon..But to date hes still most popular with guests who sneak him off the mantel onto a canoe or in a group shot.George is a little stiff and worse for wear these days (having lost a few toes over the years). But we keep patching him up and will keep him forever as our reminder to wash our hands and wear a mask..All shots of the OG George & his camp iterations since – (except pics 1&3).The second photo is from the cover of the brochures here from the 1940s – which featured George climbing on the main lodge sign.

July 13, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt